Die for You by Amy Fellner Dominy is a YA contemporary romance novel about two teens, Emma Lorde and Dillon Hobbs, in an intensely serious relationship their senior year of high school.
The book focuses on Emma Lorde and her struggle of juggling her family drama, her boyfriend, and her future. In the beginning you see Emma and Dillon as being in a typical high school romance. They spend almost every waking moment together and have even planned to go to the same college. Things change when Emma gets a shot at an internship in Rome Italy in the Fall. Dillon starts acting strange and doesn’t want Emma to go. Dillon just wants the best for Emma… right?
WHAT I LIKED:
.1. This is not a traditional love story. Dillon’s actions make you question if he’s expressing his love for Emma or if he’s trying to break her spirit to keep her in Arizona. He starts out as a pretty decent guy. He treats Emma well and he’s kind and thoughtful. As the book progresses and Emma’s intentions for her future are made clearer you start to see the shift in Dillon’s character. You want to go back and reread his interactions with Emma to see if you missed something.
.2. Emma Lorde is not a damsel in distress. She doesn’t need saving. Her actions start off misguided because she thinks what she is experiencing is love but when it really matters Emma is her own hero. She’s strong and independent. While she is affected by Dillon’s actions and his fall from grace devastates her, Emma puts herself back together.
.3. I felt like I WAS Emma. Fellner Dominy makes it easy for her readers to fall into the role of Emma. Some of the darker parts of the book affected me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. While the depiction of abuse is in no way graphic there are moments that had me on edge. I experienced a feeling of tightness in my chest and shortness of breath. In those moments I was Emma.
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:
.1. Dillon is mentally ill. This is obvious when he starts to self harm to get Emma to bend to his will. His illness isn’t apparent in the beginning and it escalates in the blink of an eye. He goes from being harsh with his tone of voice to physical violence, self harm, rape, and kidnapping in a matter of weeks. Speaking from experience, I don’t believe that this is an accurate portrayal of mental illness.
.2. The blame game. While Emma is a breath of fresh air in the stale world of ladies needing men to save them, she faults her mother for a lot of her short comings. It would have been nice to see Emma take ownership of letting Dillon take advantage of her.
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO YOU IF:
.1. You are interested in reading a YA novel that deals with darker themes.
.2. You want to explore the happenings of an abusive relationship.
.3. You like to read about strong women who are capable of saving themselves.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
There is a story in a story here. Anna, a young woman living life in Pompeii, is faced with a choice: stay in Pompeii with her love Marcus and die, or flee Pompeii on her own to survive. The history buff in me got a kick out of reading about Anna and Pompeii.
RATING: 4/5
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